Best Midnight Menu 2008: The Cheesecake Factory

On weeknights, the Cheesecake Factory kitchen stops serving at 11 p.m. But on Friday and Saturday nights, customers can walk in as late as midnight for a moonlight nosh. At other restaurants, tired servers can barely disguise their loathing of late tables. But the staff at the Cheesecake Factory is amazingly effervescent and friendly. The kitchen crew must stay fresh and happy, too, because the entire menu — as thick as a novella — is available right up to the witching hour. So if you and three friends stumble, tipsy and ravenous, into the campy, neo-Egyptian lobby and one person wants huevos rancheros, another wants a luau salad, the third craves steak Diane, and you want fried macaroni and cheese with a side of chocolate-mousse cheesecake, it’s all fair game. Just remember to be generous with the tip: Being so cheerful after a very long shift, your server has worked hard for the money.

Starts: Jan. 10. Daily, 2009